Traveling crane



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1. G. DAVY.

TRAVELING CRANE.

No. 439,483. Patented Oct. 28, 1890.

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(No Modemy 3 Sheets-Sheet 2. C. DAVY.

TRAVELING CRANE.

No. 439,483. Patented Oct. 28, 1890.

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C. DAVY.

TRAVELING CRANE.

No. 439,483. Patented Oct. 28, 1890.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES DAVY, OF SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND.

TRAVELING CRANE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 439,483, dated October 28, 1890.

Application filed May 3,1890. Serial No. 350,463. (No model.) Patented in England October 25,1887, No. 14,535, and in France April3,1889,N0.197,195.

To all whom t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES DAVY, engineer, of 30 lVhitwOrth Road, Ranmoor, Shefiield, in the county of York, England, have invented new and usefulImprovem ents in Overhead Traveling Cranes, (for which I have obtained Letters Patent in the following countries, namely: England, dated October 25, 1887, No. 14,535, and France, dated April 3, 1889, No. 197,l95,) of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

In overhead traveling cranes the longitudinal and transverse driving-shafts are usually supported at intermediate points by what are termed tumbler-bearings-that is to say, bearings supported by counterweighted, pivoted, or sliding brackets-so that they may be lowered to give passage to the sleeve or mechanism that slides along and takes the power from any point of the shaft. These tumblerbearings are expensive to construct and maintain and their employment is open to many objections.

The object of my invention is to dispense with the tumbler-bearings and to provide means whereby sliding connection may be maintained with a shaft mounted in ordinary fixed bearings, whether it be the main driving-shaft or t-he transverse driving-shafts, which transmit power to the hoisting-crab. The means whereby this is effected consist of a toothed drum mounted parallel to the driving-shaft, but on the traveling carriage, to which power is to be transmitted from said shaft, the said drum gearing with spur-wheels keyed on the driving-shaft at distances apart less than the length ofthe toothed drum, so that the teeth of the latter will always be in gear with at least one spur-wheel on the drivingshaft. The drum is preferably placed above the driving-shaft, so that should the rails getout of parallel with said shaft the drum, although not quite in the same vertical plane with the shaft, will nevertheless still remain in gear with it without causing any undue strains and wear, such as result under corresponding circumstances when tumbler-bearings are used. The traveling carriage referred to may be either the traveling gauntree or the crab traversing upon said gaunt-ree, according as the invention is applied to the longitudinal or the transverse driving-shafts.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, wherein- Figure 1 is a sectional elevation taken on line 1 1 of Fig. 3 of the traveling gauntree, showing the invention as applied for communicating motion from the main longitudinal driving-shaft to the gearing on the gauntree. Fig. 2 is an elevation showing the application of the same means of communicating motion from the transverse drivingshaft on the traveling gauntree to the crab traversed along said gauntree, and Fig. 3 is a plan View of the entire apparatus.

The same letters of reference serve for like parts in all the figures.

In Fig. 1, A is the main driving-shaft, supported by fixed bearings B, and receiving constant motion in the usual way. It is an ordinary round shaft (instead of being square, as usual) and has a series of spur-wheels C keyed upon it at equal distances apart.

D is a toothed drum or spur-wheel of a length greater than the distance between two adjacent wheels C in order that as the drum moves along in the direction of its axis its teeth will slide across those of the wheels C, and will not become disengaged from one of said wheels before being engaged with the next wheel in advance, in order that the drum may be always in gear with the shaft A. In the spaces, or any of them, thus bridged over by the drum the bearings B are situated. In Fig. l this toothed drum D is mounted at the end ot the traveling gauntree E, with its axis parallel to and above the main shaft A, and by its means motion is imparted from the main drivin g-sha-ft A, thro ugh a vertical shaft G, to the reversing cone-shaft I-I, which is constantly running and gives motion in any suitable manner and at required times to the longit-udin al traveling cross traversing and hoisting gears. The reversing and other mechanism used, which form no part of this invention, consist of the usual sets of bevel-wheels I J K, (indicated in Fig. l by their pitch-lines only,) the set I, for example, controlling the hoisting-gear on the crab, the set J controlling IOC the gear for propelling the travelingtgauntree E along the main rails L, and the set K controlling the gear for propelling the crab F along the rails e (see Fig. 2) of the traveling 5 gauntree E. (See Fig. 1.)

In Fig-2 the shaft A' is one of the shafts upon the traveling gauntree E, by which inotion is imparted to the gear on the crab for hoisting the load, such gear being controlled,

xo as before mentioned, by the mechanism I, (see Fig. 1,) a similar arrangement of shaft, Wheels, and drum being used for traversing the crab F on the gauntree. The shaft A is mounted in fixed bearings B along the girdr 5 ers E of the gauntree, and has spur-Wheels C' keyed on it, which gear with a toothed drum D', mounted on the crab F, motion being communicated from the drum D to the hoisting mechanism of the crab by any suitable zo gearing, which need not be described, as it forms no part of thc present invention. In this case the shaft A' receives intermittent motion that is to sayf-it is started, stopped, and reversed at required tim es-by the revers- 2 5 ing-clutches or other reversing-ggar I, hereinbefore mentioned. f 1

In Fig. 3 the parts A2, B2, C, and D2 are similar to those A', B', C', and D' shown in Fig. 2, but. are situated at the opposite side 3o of the gauntree E and crab F. Said gearing A2, B2, C2; and D2 is part of the mechanism for traversing the crab F upon the gauntree, and its operation is controlled, as before stated, by the reversing mechanism K. In

3 5 each case the Wheels C,1C', or C2 are of course so keyed on the respective shaftsA, A', or A2 that the teeth of the several wheels on the same shaft shall be in longitudinal alignment with each other, and the teeth of the long Wheel or drum D, D', or D2 are beveled at the ends, as shown atd, d', and (Z2, to insu re their sliding easily into engagement With the teeth of the Wheels C, C', or C2.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is- In an overhead traveling crane, the hereindescribed means of transmitting rotary motion from a driving-shaft to gearing on a carriage movable relatively to the said drivingshaft in a direction parallel thereto, consisting in the combination, with the said drivingshaft having spur-Wheels keyed upon it at intervals, as described, of a toothed drum mounted on the carriage parallel to said driving-shaft, and of a length greater than the interval between two adjaceniLWheels on the driving-shaft so that it will always be in gear With at least one of the Wheels on the drivingshaft, as and for the purpose specified. 1 The foregoing specification et' my improvements in overhead traveling cranes signed by me this 24th day of February, 1890.

CHARLES DAVY.

Witnesses C. B. I-IoBBIs,

41 Nofolk Street, Shejjclrl, W. F. BURDEK1N, f

Broomfield, Shefcld, Clerks 150 llfessrs. Barrick-in O0., SUITS.,

Shejj'ield. t 

